Summer Tip-Off: Family affair for Ball
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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After a Friday night flight from Charlotte
to Los Angeles, Rivals.com setup shop in the Anaheim Sports Center for the
Double Pump Summer Tip-Off. The nation's top ranked point guard in the class of
2016 Lonzo Ball spearheaded a family affair and led the Big Ballers VXT Black into
Sunday's semifinal round.
Family affair for Ball
The No. 5 ranked player in the class of 2016, 6-foot-5 point guard Lonzo Ball from Chino Hills (Calif.) High and his family have done things a bit
differently. So far, the results have been pretty tough to argue against as the
UCLA-bound rising senior remains one of the most intriguing prospects
in the country.
For the most part, Ball has stayed off of the national travel circuit during the
summer and he's elected to stay local and play with the Big Ballers VXT Black.
The Big Ballers feature his 2017 shooting guard brother LiAngelo Ball
and 2019 brother LaMelo Ball.
The rest of the team is essentially the Chino Hills High School team and their
second team features a 2018 cousin with promise as a wing player in Andre Ball.
Now that you get an idea of the background, it's time to talk about their play.
Saturday afternoon Rivals watched as Lonzo helped to lead his team to a
thrilling 101-97 win over the Arizona Power Black before they won an evening
quarterfinal game to make the finals.
To say that their style is unique would be an understatement. The Big Ballers
play at a breakneck pace and it appears that there is no such thing as a bad
shot. All of the Ball brothers are pretty much willing to let it fly from
anywhere within 30 feet of the hoop and both Lonzo and LaMelo wield what can
best be described as unique shooting styles. The strongest built of the three,
LiAngelo shoots a traditional jumper and is pretty dangerous with his feet set.
Almost everything positive that happens for the Big Ballers can be traced to the
creativity of Lonzo. There isn't a better long distance passer in America and
his vision in the half court setting is way above average. Each game, he hits on
several 60 to 70-foot overhead heaves up the court where he finds teammates in stride
for easy layups. He can handle going right or left, is dangerous as a defender
because of his ability to swipe the ball away from opponents and is as good a
rebounding point guard as you will find.
Ball does need to play with a bit more urgency at times, needs a bit more
strength and most of all has to fine tune his jumper. He doesn't lack for
confidence in his shot and he goes on stretches where he will hit three or four
in a row after missing six or seven. However, the release that comes off from
his left side (he's right-handed) and low could causes for a bit of a line
driving and flat jumper.
No prospect is perfect, though, but the potential Ball has is easy to see. In a
perfect world we would all be able to see him against high caliber competition
on a regular basis but the way he and his family have done things seems to be
working out just fine for them to this point.
Hunte taking next step
One West Coast prospect who looks poised to add more interest is three-star
power forward Irshad Hunte.
A live bodied rising senior from San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) Saddleback Valley
Christian, the 6-foot-7 Hunte was very impressive for the SoCal All Stars on
Saturday afternoon.
Hunte has long arms, above average leaping ability and quickness and seems to
have a great feel as a rebounder on both ends of the floor. He sprints from rim
to rim, has a body built to carry more strength and his jumper doesn't look like
it will be an issue on the next level.
Hunte told Rivals.com that he has picked up recent offers from Wyoming,
Montana and Utah State while UCSB is close to offering. That offer list should
only grow if he plays the rest of July anything like he's started it off.
"I'm working on my shot since school but it wasn't dropping," Hunte told Rivals.
"Once you play with a motor, though, it can make up for that and I'm trying to
have that motor."
More observations from Summer Tip-Off
Hunte wasn't the only member of the SCA Red Elite squad who impressed on
Saturday. They have a nice three-headed monster in the backcourt with 2018 point
guard Spencer Freedman and 2016 shooting guards Austin Awosika
and Mahleek Gordon. Freedman has a terrific feel for passing the ball
and a dangerous jumper while Awosika is a tough driver who can finish through
contact and Gordon is a speedy and athletic attacker off the dribble. Awosika
picked up his first offer from Cal State Fullerton this week while Gordon has
been getting Big Sky attention.
One of the single most impressive prospects on the day hasn't even played a
high school game. Cassius Stanley, a 6-foot-5 wing for Pump 'N Run Elite's
16U team, is going to be one to watch. He is a well above-average athlete with
both explosion and body control. He handles the ball pretty well, his jumper
looks like it is on point and the freshman to be at North Hollywood (Calif.)
Harvard Westlake already holds an offer from USC.
The Arizona Power Black squad fell to the Big Ballers in an up and down affair,
but they still had several players make big impressions. Shooting guard
Cameron Satterwhite, power forward Mitch Lightfoot, big man
Tim Fuller and point guard Saben Lee all had their moments.
A Colorado commit, Satterwhite is much improved since this time
last summer. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard has a tremendous first step, is very
bouncy around the rim and he has excellent speed in the open floor. He must get
stronger to make an impact in the Pac-12, but he looks like he has upgraded his
jump shot and because of that his size and his athleticism he should be able to
help the Buffaloes.
Coming off of a strong performance at the Under Armour All-America Camp
Powered by Rivals.com earlier in the week, Lightfoot was all over the place. A
high end athlete who gets off the floor in a hurry, Lightfoot played above the
rim in traffic and used his high running motor to be a huge factor on the glass.
He's already taken an official visit to Stanford and is setting one up
program Lightfoot said would likely get a visit and he mentioned that he has new
A rugged 6-foot-8 center with good athleticism, Fuller showed good strength
around the rim and that he can go straight up to block shots. A class of 2017
point guard, Lee is the son of former NFL running back Amp Lee and proved to be
one of the bigger discoveries of the day at the Tip-Off. Lee is fast, he gets
into the lane to make plays, he's capable of applying pressure defensively and
he looks to have very good upside. At worst, he appears to be a good upper end
mid major prospect and high majors are surely going to watch closely the rest of
Frankly, it's a bit surprising that H-Squad shooting guard Rodney HendersonClick the summer and beyond.Here to view this Link. is still available. Nicknamed "Rocket" he has good athleticism,
long arms, a pretty jumper with deep range and he can lock up on defense. He's
also got good grades but not many options after a good senior season at
Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco. Because of that he's slated to head off to
A couple of weeks ago, class of 2017 point guard Jade SmithClick Avon (Conn.) Old Farms for a year of prep school.Here to view this Link. of Team
Superstar looked a little in over his head at the Stephen Curry Select Camp.
With his summer team in the 16U division, he looked much more at home. The
three-star has good size at 6-foot-2, handles the ball well, can make things
happen in transition and has a lot of potential. He picked up an offer from
San Diego State on Saturday to go with others from Montana, Nevada and
New Mexico State. California, Colorado and Utah are among
those that are also tracking his play.
Another player to keep an eye on for the Big Ballers/Chino Hills crew is 2017
forward Elijzah Scott. A 6-foot-5 forward with strength and
athleticism, he makes plays around the rim on both ends of the floor and has a
great motor.
Class of 2016 power forward
Keith Fishcer remains one of
those guys to keep a close eye on. He has a nice frame and size at 6-foot-8 and
shows glimpses of offense and being a productive rebounder. Word is he could
eventually reclassify to 2017.
Texas based TNBA has a pair of 2017 power forwards worth tracking in 6-foot-7
Ashton Charles and 6-foot-7 JoirDon Nicholas. The more skilled
of the two, Charles can put the ball on the floor and shoot a bit while Nicholas
has more length and is a bouncier athlete and finisher around the rim.
Class of 2018
combo guard Payton Moore of California Supreme's 15U team looks to be
long on potential. At 6-foot-3 he handles the ball well, makes very good passes
through traffic and has athletic upside. Boise State and USC have
reportedly offered scholarships.
It was tough to take too much out of D1
Minnesota 15U's Saturday afternoon win over a seriously overmatched opponent but
shooting guard Gabe Kalscheur and combo forward Race Thompson
look to be nice prospects. Kalscheur is a very good athlete who also has a nice
looking jumper while Thompson is a solidly built 6-foot-5 forward with good
fundamentals and willingness to play physically.
The Coastal Elite Orange 15U team had two prospects to follow up on. 6-foot-7
power forward Warren Washington has good hands, good feet and is pretty
nimble. He'll add strength and explosion with maturity but has basic physical
and fundamental traits that suggest promise. Shooting guard Jalen Flanagan (6-foot-2) is an athletic driver who also shows promise as a jump shooter.
Finally, 2018 shooting guard
Wayne Arnold is one to track. A 6-foot-2
scorer from Compton (Calif.) Dominguez he has long arms, good quickness, handles
well and his shot looks like it should be a weapon. He can already create space
off the dribble which is something that should serve him well down the road.
